


A Coffin is Not for Sleeping

by lil_utterance (persephone_flees)



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, True Blood
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-18
Updated: 2013-03-19
Packaged: 2017-11-08 00:19:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 3,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/437036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/persephone_flees/pseuds/lil_utterance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The immortal story of a love-starved slayer and a vampire’s insatiable desires. (A series of connected drabbles.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One Way Trip

**Author's Note:**

> A series of connected drabbles written for the Lesbian Pulp Fiction Titles challenge at [femslash100](http://femslash100.livejournal.com/739394.html). The title of the fic is adapted from/inspired by pulp covers [here](http://www.strangesisters.com/a-z/images/crap_shoot.php?photo=xbedisnotforsleeping.jpg&data=a-f.list&start=28) and [here](http://www.strangesisters.com/a-z/images/crap_shoot.php?photo=xanythinggoes.jpg&data=a-f.list&start=17) (NSFW).

"She will work.”

“So you say,” Eric said.

“Look,” Pam said, annoyed, “you are the one who has been going on and on about how Sookie needs protecting.”

“I thought you would find-” 

“What? What could you possibly have thought I’d find that would be any better? You specifically requested inconspicuous.”

“Well, I’ve never been called that before,” the leather-clad brunette said, finally speaking up for herself. “Though usually I’m referred to as a ‘who’ rather than a ‘what’ and I think I’d rather go back to that.”

“Look, human,” Eric said, “if I was looking for someone to have sex with, I’m sure your presence here would be fortuitous. However-”

The human turned to Pam. “Time for another demonstration?” 

Pam looked down at her outfit and sighed. She was rather fond of this one and it was in a dark color, which was a rarity for her. However, it could hardly be helped. 

“Fine. But next time, remind me to bring along somebody else for the role.”

“Five-by-five,” the human said as she launched herself into the air, aiming a kick at Pam’s midsection that sent the vampire across the room and into the far wall.


	2. Fair Game

Pam picked herself up from the debris. Without looking at the wall, she knew the impact of her body had left an impressive dent. “Any questions?” she asked Eric as she straightened her skirt. 

“He should be asking himself why I had to get all slap-happy before he’d believe you. I mean, I’ve never understood the whole Sire-Childe relationship-” the woman paused as both Pam and Eric winced.

“Don’t call it that,” Eric said.

“Hey, your house, your rules. But really, whatever she is to you, who died and made you god? She’s not your errand girl. Show a little respect.”

Eric sat forward in his chair, his fangs newly visible. “Remember your place, human. Remember,” he said, nodding at Pam, “that she did die.”

“And he’s been playing god ever since,” Pam said. “Apparently, I’m able to create deities.”

“So wouldn’t that give you the power?”

At her Maker’s growl, Pam smiled. “Eric,” she said. “Meet Faith.”


	3. Love in the Shadows

They didn’t make it into Eric’s office before he had requested Faith’s supernatural pedigree, and Pam couldn’t help admiring the coolness with which the human responded. It was obvious that Faith had no budding aspirations to either fear him or fuck him. Which was fine with Pam; she loved this type of rarity most of all. It meant Eric really couldn’t pull rank, make her share, without compromising his vision of himself. 

This was, for her, a most delectable rarity. One she planned to take full advantage of.

Suppressing a smile, she listened to Faith’s version of a self-biography.


	4. Come Again

“You are a _vampire slayer_?” Even as Eric confirmed Faith’s statement, he was already turning to Pam. “You brought a killer of our kind here?”

“It would appear so. That is, if you believe everything she says.” Pam offered Faith a look of warm consideration that fell just short of outright seduction. “I can say with some authority that she hasn’t lied to me yet.”

Eric shook his head. “You’re insatiable.”

“Thank you.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.”

Pam glanced at Faith. The Slayer had found some weapons in a chest in the corner of the office and was examining them with great interest. “Perhaps it should have been.”

“Remind me again—do I keep you around as a friend or an enemy?”

“You keep me close. I think that’s really all that needs to be said.”

“And if I asked you to say more?”

“That depends. Would you ask nicely?”


	5. The Sisterhood

“When did I start letting your obedience slide such that you don’t feel the need to answer a simple question?” Eric asked.

“When did I start refusing you?” Pam perched herself on the edge of Eric’s desk. “When you realized my obedience was at my own whim and not your compulsion. I’d say about a century or two ago.” She paused and thought a moment. “Give or take a decade.”

“Are you guys always this observant?” Faith asked as she dropped herself down in the chair in front of Pam. 

“Trust me, we’re observant when there’s something worth noticing,” Eric said. 

“Like right now.” Pam tilted her head downward to get a better look at the material that gaped slightly along the line of Faith’s neck. She had known this shirt was a wise purchase. In her opinion, impulse buys were vastly underrated. She agreed with the human in front of her. 

_Want. Take. Have._

Strange that someone created to kill their kind could understand their mentality so very well.


	6. A World Divided

“I’m not sure why I should feel threatened by your line,” Eric said to Faith. “There’s only one of you at a time.” He indicated the bar outside the door with a wave. “As I’m sure you’ve already discovered, we experience little difficulty in keeping you outnumbered.” 

Leaning forward, he held her gaze. “I’d say your magicians weren’t very effective.”

Faith sat back in her chair and put her boots up on Eric’s desk. “I don’t know,” she said, “I don’t see that you’ve overrun humanity in the last, what? How many thousands of years have you been trying to reign supreme?” She ran a hand through her hair and offered him a taunting smile. “What are you waiting for? An invitation?”

“I’ve always thought the invitation was understood.”

“Hey, look, I like both of you and all,” Faith said, “but so it’s spelled out—no means no.”

“Are you threatening us, human?” 

“Let’s just say that I can and have wielded a stake in my sleep.” 

Eric smiled. “Interesting.”

“Indeed,” Pam agreed. 

“I knew it.” Faith shook her head. “Your kind never changes. Bunch of pervs.”

Eric turned to Pam. “You were right. I do like her.”


	7. Encore

“If I’ve passed whatever it is you want to call this interview, Faith said, “does that mean you’ll tell me about this person I’m supposed to be protecting?”

“Her name is Sookie Stackhouse,” Eric said. He paused, considering. “She is...unique. And more importantly, she is very valuable to me. That is all you need to know.”

“That’s all I’m getting? Are you for real?” 

Pam shot a look at Eric. “We could also warn her,” she suggested.

“About?” he asked.

“About how she’s almost more trouble than she’s worth.”

“Ah,” he said. “That.” His tone was far from apologetic as he said to Faith, “It’s true that she does have the annoying habit of needing to educate vampires on the finer points of the human moral code. But it’s easy enough to ignore, once you get used to it.”

“She isn’t a blonde, is she?” Faith asked. 

Eric frowned. “Yes, she is. Why?”

“I have a thing for getting paired up with self-righteous blondes.”

Pam raised an eyebrow and eyed her. “I’m blonde.” 

“Yeah, but you’ve never seemed particularly convinced of your righteousness.”

“Hardly,” a new voice said. “But then, neither am I.”


	8. The Twisted Path

It didn’t take a genius to figure out the newcomer’s identity.

“Whatever you say, Blondie,” Faith said. “But I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Sookie strode up to them, all bouncing curls and short, patterned sundress. “Is this my new babysitter?” she asked Eric. “Because if she is, I can tell you right now, I don’t want her.”

“Your loss,” Pam said. “It’s not like we expected any sort of appreciation.” She looked Sookie up and down. “Or taste.”

“I apologize for our guest’s lack of manners,” Eric said to Faith. “She’s usually so polite.”

“Oh, just shut up.”

Faith shrugged, completely unfazed by the hostility. “Not like it’s my first rejection. Besides, I work for you, not her.”

“Don’t you think I should have a say in how I live my own life?” Sookie asked. 

“Look, Blondie, as long as you stay alive, I really don’t care. You can bang vampires all night long, or whatever you-”

Sookie rounded on Eric. “You _told_ her about me and Bill?”

“Relax, Goldilocks,” Faith said. “He didn’t have to tell me. I figured it out, all by myself.”

“How?”

Faith laughed. “I have many hidden talents. But, really? All I had to do was look at you.”

Sookie focused on Faith for a few seconds, concentrating, and then her eyes widened. 

“I cant hear you,” she whispered.


	9. Alone at Last

Faith sighed. This was a flavor of crazy she hadn’t encountered before. “Huh?”

“Are you telepathic too?”

Now it was Faith’s turn to stare. “Am I _what_?”

“Telepathic,” Eric said to her. He turned back to Sookie. “She’s not. But this is very-”

“-weird?” Faith asked. 

“-interesting,” he finished.

“I’ll say,” Pam said, and the smile she offered Faith left her in no doubt that she had impressed the vampire once again. 

“You can play with your toy later,” Eric said sharply, ignoring Faith’s dismissive eye-roll at his characterization of her. “For now, I think we should leave the two of them to get to know one another.”

“Spoilsport,” Pam said, but she moved off the desk and followed him toward the office door. 

Before either woman could protest the vampires’ exit, they were alone together in the room.


	10. Good Girl, Bad Girl

Faith decided she would open the conversation. “Let me guess,” she said, “I’m not allowed to stake your honey. Don’t worry, I got over that urge a while ago. More trouble than it’s worth.”

“Is that supposed to be funny?”

“No sense of humor,” Faith muttered, settling back into her chair. “Check.” If she hadn’t been sure before, she was sure now—it was going to be a long couple of weeks.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

As Sookie sat down in the chair across from Faith, it was obvious she was trying to ignore her, but that something was keeping her from succeeding. Politeness, maybe—though Faith was just guessing. It wasn’t something she knew all that much about. 

“How long have you and Pam...?” Sookie trailed off, and it took Faith a couple seconds to catch on that she was being asked about her _relationship_. 

“It’s not like that.” Faith looked away, uncomfortable. “She...helped me.”

Sookie gave her a disbelieving look. “ _Pam_?”

“Yes. I owe her.”

The silence stretched between them, until Sookie finally asked, “You mean you’ve never...?” When Faith shook her head, Sookie seemed to forget herself, curiosity overriding good manners. “Haven’t you ever wondered?” 

“Maybe.” Faith laughed shortly. “I’m curious about death, too, but I don’t go rushing towards it.”

“Of course not,” Sookie said. “You only kill vampires. I’m sure that’s just great for your life expectancy.”

They sat in silence until Eric and Pam returned.


	11. After Hours

Faith wasn’t surprised by the knock on her door. “Come in,” she called out, tossing the washcloth she had been using onto the sink. 

Pam entered the room, her expression going from cool to appreciative as she caught sight of Faith. 

Normally Faith wouldn’t have cared—she still had on her pants and a bra—but tonight was different. She found herself self-conscious, though she pretended not to be.

“What’s up?” she asked, her movements nonchalant as she walked across the room and threw herself down on the bed. She rolled onto her stomach and propped her head up on one hand. “There something you need?”

Pam looked faintly amused by the question. Instead of answering, she leaned down and picked Faith’s shirt up off the floor. In a blur of motion, she folded it. 

“You are way too worried about that shirt,” Faith said. 

Pam raised an eyebrow. “I like to see things taken care of.” She moved to the dresser and opened the top drawer. “Speaking of which,” she said, carefully placing the shirt inside, “did-”

“Yeah, I got her back home safely.”

“Did you like her?”

Faith couldn’t read Pam’s expression, and it made her cautious. “She seems...okay.”

“She’s annoying.”

Faith couldn’t have agreed more. “I’ve seen worse.”

“Haven’t we all.” Pam gave her one last arch glance, then walked out, leaving Faith staring at the doorway and thinking that even if she dusted every last vamp in the world, she would never understand them.


	12. Strange Embrace

In some ways, Faith felt oddly at home in Fangtasia. She had spent her fair share of time in seedy bars, and it wasn’t as if the Bronze had been much less of a vamp magnet. 

No, what had her freaked about her sitch was that she was working for the undead. Not that it was the first time... 

_“Angel Investigations,” Fred said. “We help the helpless!” She listened for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, we are a vampire-owned business...”_

_Faith groaned. So much for her quiet afternoon. She’d had zero breaks since she’d gotten back out on the street. She knew Angel had been purposefully keeping her busy—distracting her from the fact that, with her record, her occupational choices sucked even harder than those usually available to a Slayer._

_Luckily for her, since vampires had come out of their coffins, Angel Investigations had been getting more work than they could handle._

_“You what?” Fred asked. “I...I see. Could you please describe the state of the body before you...lost it?” As Faith watched, Fred cradled the phone between her cheek and shoulder and started typing on her laptop. “No, it’s nothing we haven’t done before...”_

_By the time Fred hung up the phone, Faith had on her jacket and was standing near the door. “You get it?”_

_“Yes, although it’s complicated-”_

_“Cover-up request?”_

_“Yes. Jessica said she had a ‘friend’ who lost a dead body...”_

_“Obvious, much? Where’s this one at? The Valley?”_

_“Bon Temps. Louisiana.”_


	13. The Dangerous Games

“There’s nothing meaner or stronger than a vampire. What’s not to like?”

As the words left Sookie’s mouth, Faith was already taking a defensive position. So much for keeping a low profile. 

The biker she had been flirting with turned to look at her. “You friends with this fanger?”

“Yeah, we’re totally BFFs,” Faith muttered, shoving him off his stool almost absently as she made her way toward Sookie. 

She tried to keep her cool as she saw the crowd that had already surrounded her charge. Damn it. She knew she should have come alone. This was her kind of place—she had been passing just fine. The patrons weren’t exactly the cuddly type, not like Oz, but if Sookie could have chilled out...

But of course she couldn’t. Why?

_Because it’s wrong._

As Faith fought her way through the werewolves in her path, she wondered what could be so right about sacrificing all this time and energy to search for another vamp who obviously didn’t want to be found.


	14. The Bitter Love

Faith turned on Sookie as soon as they made it back to their hotel. 

“Why are we doing this?”

“What?” Sookie jammed her finger against one of the elevator buttons. “Saving a vampire?”

Faith reminded herself that she valued human life. Really, she did. Even if some people were just begging to be eaten. “You know, I get it. You have this whole romance thing going on. But seriously, you should know—”

“What? That he’s betrayed me? That he’s not capable of love?”

Sookie strode into the elevator; Faith followed. And that’s when it hit her—this was so not her style. She needed to put a stop to this. Now. 

Turning, Faith slammed a hand against the elevator wall, right above Sookie’s shoulder. Sookie flinched at the sound but tilted her head upwards, defiant, as she stared directly into the slayer’s face.

Faith forced herself to take a deep breath. “I’m just saying, some of them—most of them—will drop you on your ass.”

“And why do you care so much about my ass?”

“It’s my job.”

“Your job,” Sookie repeated scornfully.

“Why are you on my case, S?”

“Why are you so sure he’s betrayed me?”

“You ever stop and think that maybe he was never who you wanted him to be?”

“Maybe I know him better than you do.”

“Yeah? Well, _maybe_ what you really need to know is how to accept a break up.”


	15. Obsession

Faith had thought her comment would provoke an explosion, but Sookie merely continued staring up at her, expression turning thoughtful. 

“You can’t think they’re all bad?”

_Angel Investigations. We help the-_

“I don’t,” Faith said. “But I got a lot of experience that tells me—for the most part—they’re not all that into keeping you warm at night.”

With a low chime, the elevator door slid open, but neither of them looked away from each other.

“Who do I remind you of?” Sookie asked quietly.

_Blonde hair brushed against Faith’s shoulder as the two girls shifted closer on the dance floor—_

The movement outside the elevator was subtle; without her slayer skills, Faith would have missed it. Instead she looked up just in time to see Pam shift in dim light of the hallway.

“Nobody,” Faith said to Sookie. “Your death wish is all your own.”

Unsurprisingly, _that_ got her a reaction, one that required no enhanced abilities to perceive, the reverberations of the slammed room door echoing throughout the hall.


	16. When Lights are Low

“Rough night?” Pam asked as Faith stepped into the hall to join her.

Faith shrugged. “It was...you know.” She couldn’t help but think about how, in the old days, it would have been a helluva lot rougher. “Whatever.”

“Someone doesn’t play well with others.”

It wasn’t like it was the first time Faith had heard those words directed towards herself, but it was the only time it had been meant as a compliment. As she allowed the realization to sink in, the adrenaline rush from the club finally ebbed, and she relaxed, slumping back against the wall.

“You know,” Faith said, “you wouldn’t know it from looking at her, but that chick _likes_ trouble.”

“It’s not all her fault. Fairies are very flighty creatures.”

“Fairies?” 

“Yes.” 

“Sookie?”

“Yes,” Pam said, her expression long-suffering. “Why we are wasting our time protecting her, I’ll never know. Fairies usually take care of their own. She’ll have a godmother out there somewhere—”

“Hold up.” Faith gestured in the direction of the recently slammed door. “You’re telling me that miss high-and-mighty there is a _fairy princess_?”

Pam leaned forward and, without thinking, Faith shifted to meet her, the vampire’s response breathless against her ear. “What I’m _telling_ you is a secret. Eric doesn’t even know that I know.”

“And yet, with the sharing.”

“Don’t disappoint me.”


	17. Either is Love

“We’re in Mississippi now.”

“Great. That’s just...great.”

“You don’t have to sound so sure about it.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.” 

Faith tossed aside the towel she had been holding, remaining silent as she ran her fingers through strands of damp hair. Normally she’d wait to clean up until both hands were free, but she needed a distraction from the voice on the other end of the phone. 

“Look, Angel...I’m...it’s good here, okay? You don’t need to worry about me.” 

When he didn’t immediately respond, she wondered if this call would end the way she had known their last one would end...

“You know you always have a job here,” he said.

...or, you know, not. 

“Yeah.” Faith hated that she was bad at this part. Maybe if this kind of thing came easier to her, she’d feel it less. “Call me if the kid gets out of line.”

“He misses you.”

“What can I say? Boy likes a challenge. Don’t know where he gets that from.”

“Take care of yourself, Faith.”

Faith hung up and flopped down on the bed, giving herself props for the smile she heard in the Big Guy’s goodbye. She missed them—Angel, Connor, even Wes. But she wasn’t ready to go back. Babysitting might suck, but she liked the moving around. It felt like an escape, without the actual running away. 

As long as Pam needed her help, she would stay.

At least until the next apocalypse.


	18. The Time and Place

_Faith had figured there’d be static. “Yeah, okay, we get it. Baby-vamp did some serious damage. Evil was done here.”_

_“A man is dead.”_

_“Hey, he’s the one who decided to find his inner Humbert and go all the way to jail with that bait.”_

_“So he deserved to die? Faith—”_

_“I know, Angel. But she says—”_

_“She can speak for herself,” Pam interrupted, crossing her her legs as she leaned in toward the speaker phone. “Look, Angelus—”_

_“Angel.”_

_“I don’t do nicknames.”_

_“You’ll do this one or we’re done here. Now—what do you want?”_

_Pam didn’t hesitate. “Since you asked so nicely,” she said coolly, “If you’ll lend us this human—”_

_“She’s not mine to lend, ” Angel began._

_“And I’m not human,” Faith said firmly._

_Pam muted the line. “You’re also not helping.” Without waiting for a response, she reached back out to hit the button again. “Look, I don’t have all day. Now that our existence is known, we can no longer avoid the mainstream. If Faith stays here, she can help the younger ones be less...impulsive. She can protect those we need protecting.”_

_“You can’t really expect me to believe you’re hiring her to help the helpless?”_

_“Believe whatever you want—just don’t bother me with the details.”_

_Pam ended the call and started to get up. Her movements slowed when she saw Faith staring at her. Faith thought about remaining silent; then thought better of it._

_“Why me?” she asked._


End file.
